Who we are

Silver Horizon Travel Co-operative Ltd (SH)By seniors for seniors

SH is a co-operative, a social enterprise formed by seniors for fellow seniors. The founding members, from various walks of life, bravely joined in to start this co-operative. It was successfully registered on 28 February 2012. Our social mission is to promote active living and learning through customized travel programs for seniors and to use travel as a platform to build friendship and bonding before, during and after the tour. The activities are intended to make life more active and meaningful for seniors.

What we do

Our travel programs are dedicated to promote suitable activities, well-paced itineraries, comfortable stays and meeting new friends. We will focus on the travel needs and interests of fellow seniors, to facilitate more enjoyable and less stressful travel experience. Moreover, the Co-operative will serve to channel assistance aimed at enriching the lives of seniors without family support through the travel programs.

How we serve the seniors

Whilst one objective is to design tour packages (and related activities) that are specially suited for senior travellers, the fundamental role is that of a pooling centre for the silver travel enthusiasts. There are many seniors who love to travel and they do that usually in small groups comprising their relatives and friends. The group size is usually less than 10 and thus not able to avail itself to cheaper rates offered to larger groups. This is particularly true for more exotic tours and the long haul trips, or where the destinations/sights are not found in the usual tour packages.

Our members are assured that their travel companions will be other like-minded seniors, many of whom will undoubtedly become new close friends to share their travel passions and other interests and attend silver lively activities together.

As our membership base grows larger, it will become easier for us to cater to small group of members to travel to remote destinations. We can customise the itinerary and create such a tour and put together a group to go, even on short notice! In this way, the co-operative becomes an avenue where our travel dreams take off.

Why we are a co-operative – Do Good, Do Well

From the start, when the idea of a travel service enterprise was first mooted, we already decided on a co-operative model rather than a private company. As a co-operative, the mission and passion come from its members to derive the “products and services” that is best suited for the majority and the common good. It is not so much just about profitability or trying to do the impossible by offering tours that are both “cheap and good”. We want to “do good, do well”.

With a co-operative, you need at least 10 founding members, and numbers do matter in a business as vast as the travel services. So we need to outreach to many more like-minded people, to benefit from their experience and wisdom. We welcome them to share the passion and social mission. As more people join, we will have more resources to plan many programs a year. Moreover, as a co-operative, we can also tap into the network of other co-operatives or Government agencies that promote active ageing. A co-operative is really about the power of collaboration and networks; it’s about co-operatives helping each other.

For more information about co-operatives, you can refer to the Singapore National Co-operative Federation (SNCF) website: www.sncf.org.sgSNCF is the national body of Singapore’s Co-operative Movement since 1980.

Executive Committee Members (1 November 2016)

Chairlady: Helen Lim

Secretary: Shirley Wan

Treasurer: Helen Lim

EC Member: HP Loi (Tours)

EC Member: Lee May Ling

EC Member: Ang Kian Chuan

EC Member: William Goh

Welcome by Chairperson

Welcome to Silver Horizon Travel Co-operative’s Website! We are proud to launch this Website on 8 June 2012.

It all began when some of the founding members approached me, after reading articles about Silver Spring social enterprise, or hearing my talks on entrepreneurial options for seniors. We then met at Chatters @ Silver Spring Café to explore possibilities and after a series of conversations and discussions, the idea to form a travel Cooperative was born.Our founding members are all active frequent travelers who feel that we should put an end to the anxieties of rushed itineraries and the frustrations of being brought to places we don’t want to be. We believe that there are many like-minded seniors out there who share our views and feel that a co-operative would best serve our common aspirations – to enjoy our travels and make as many new friends as we can. Design to enjoy is our motto!

We understand that Silver Horizon is the first travel co-operative for seniors to be registered successfully on 28 February 2012 with the Registry of Co-operatives Societies. We certainly hope that we can cater to the needs of senior travellers – to bring something afresh and make a difference.

Come join us and together we make it a success – by seniors for seniors!